DD is "training" for her first tri-athelon

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She is 8. She can run like a pro (1.5 miles in less than 13 min), and she likes her bike, so I signed her up. She is all of 44 lbs, and just today someone asked "are you 6?..no? 5?...4???" and she had to set them straight at 8. She is quite tiny. But boy is she strong.

So yesterday I took her to the rec center to teach her more about swimming for races. She only knows how to play/swim in a pool. I told her to do the back stroke because her mouth will be able to breath at all times, and she will be very tired for the last leg of the race. So on her first try, she made it about 2 yards? And shortly there after she was swimming 3 laps at a time. The pool is that size that is not full olympic size, but 1/2? I'm not sure how it measures, but I think that is it.

Since she has been out of school for 4 wks she really needs to get back into her running, so we are going to start back w/ that tomorrow.

She will be racing against kids up to 13 yrs old, so I told her not to even worry about those in front of her. Just race for herself and she will do great. I am expecting her to be one of the first ones finishing in her age group. She is so athletic.

She was one of only 2 girls in the 2nd grade that made the Presidental Athletic Award. From kindergarten til present she had only gotten National Award, but this year she finally did it!!! I am soooooo proud of her!

She wants to be a track star

By Luvn29 on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 10:06 pm:

Good for her! You should be so proud of her. And that is great that you are encouraging her like that! Make sure to keep us updated in how she is doing with everything! It sounds very exciting!

By Reds9298 on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 10:37 pm:

You must be SO proud of her! I think it's great that you're encouraging/supporting her the way you are. You're taking her interests and strengths and pushing her forward. Not to mention the quality time it's making for the two of you.

I think it's terrific. Ditto Adena...let us know how she does in the race.

By Pamt on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 10:46 pm:

Awesome!!

By Mrsheidi on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 06:48 am:

You must be so proud! How long is the course? Is there biking involved?

By Happynerdmom on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 10:01 am:

That's great!!

By Dana on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 03:11 pm:

The race is 1/2 mile running (this will be easy for DD if we--eh hm, SHE gets back into daily running shape). 2.6 miles biking and finishes w/ 100 yrds swimming.

This is the 2nd annual race (her 1st), so I have no clue how it all works out, but I am very excited for her.

I just hope I have a family member in each area to cheer her on. Everyone is on vacation right now!

By Mrsheidi on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 10:10 pm:

I used to do triathlons and just make sure she trains on her bike a lot. You can make up a LOT of time on the bike vs. the running/swimming.
Does she know how to transition from one to the other?
Listen to me...I'm acting like she's so much older!! LOL! I'm so excited for you guys!
I wonder why they put swimming last...we usually did swimming, biking, and then running. Must be because they're younger? Dunno...

By Dana on Sunday, June 11, 2006 - 08:00 am:

Heidi, I was told they need to have fewer kids during the swimming time and putting it last weeds out the bunches to a managable size.

I have no clue on the transition. I worry about her putting on her helmet. That will slow her down.

She's only 8, but I would love for any tips you can send our way. She really is so good at sports that I feel she really has a chance to at least place. It's really difficult for me to help her right now with my back problems, but I hope to be out there ever day til then to work w/ her. I wish I could be with her at each transition zone at time of race, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to get there fast enough.

What type of tips can you give on the biking? I was just going to let her just "go!"

By Mrsheidi on Sunday, June 11, 2006 - 08:31 am:

With the biking, it all depends on who's around her. Has she ever heard of drafting yet? If she can find someone with a fast pace, she can draft behind her and it saves her a lot of energy. She would take turns with her too.
Email me at heidi henkel at hotmail dot com

By Kym on Sunday, June 11, 2006 - 03:45 pm:

Wow Dana that's great! My dd is 12 and has done one leg of a biathlon and triathlon since she was 7, she used to do the bike, now she does the running. She had never done the whole thing, but the distances are a bit longer for our local events than yours. Maybe I need to push my dh to organize one with shorter distances??HMMM has me thinking
Make sure to post afterwards how it went and how dd did!

By Dana on Monday, June 12, 2006 - 09:15 pm:

Kym, ours has three races: age 5-6 .25mi run, 1.0 bike, 25 swim. You saw DD's for age 7-10 and then a group 11-15 at 1.0 run, 3.0 bike and 150yrd swim. I will definitely post the update after she complete this. Saddly, DD has been complaining of her ankle hurting since twisting it last week on a bouncy house. I went to store to get her new shoes today and she complained about it hurting w/ the walking we have done. Then tonight at VBS she opted out on jumping on the bouncy house so she could put ice on her foot. Tomorrow we will see the dr. I see some light bruising on top of her foot arch. Hoping that it will be fine after a week of light use.

Heidi, I would be terrified to watch her travel close enough to someone for drafting LOL. I'll just let her do her own thing.